USER REQUIREMENT AND PERCEPTION OF SPACE

In the aspiration to design the built environment, architects and designers are continuously trying
to create spaces that positively affect users. Both aspects of rational and emotional combined
simultaneously with technological advancement are essential to implement in a comprehensive
architectural design process. While our ability to create complex architectural forms through computation
is in the state of a continuous improvement, our knowledge about their emotional effects over users
remain ambiguous. Recent developments in simulation of virtual spaces, along with advancement in
neuroscience may enable us to conduct empirical research on the way we perceive space, and the way
space affects us emotionally.

USER REQUIREMENTS
From the model of system components in our generic system, the user component is at the highest
layer. The term user represents primarily the end beneficiary of the design; or structure when finished, but
it can be expanded to include everyone involved in the system, such as network and system administrators
and management. User requirements are the basis of our main design. These are also considered as space
management or planning which is an in-depth analysis of how physical space is used in structures. It
considers the purpose of spaces and who will use them. Space planning is a process that takes several
steps, and it's an important component for the work of interior designers and architects. The function of a
user requirements is to serve as the concept or reference for the design, as an architect comes a great
responsibility to meet your client’s expectation, the concept should be accurate or fit to those who will
use the infrastructure.

PERCEPTION OF SPACE
Architects are a key part in shaping the environment we all live in. It requires a thorough
understanding of current needs to successfully develop spaces just as it needs visionary thinking to
anticipate future ones.
Several research fields have meaningful insights which may
contribute to our understanding of the way humans perceive
different spaces and how the geometry of spaces 1 affects our 2
feelings. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology indicate towards a
connection between shapes of objects and feelings. Our preference
for objects has been shown to be influenced by many factors
including mere exposure, familiarity, symmetry, contrast, Figure 1. Four designed VR spaces – external
complexity, and perceptual fluency (Zajonc, 1968; Winkielman, view.
Schwarz et al., 2002; Hekkert, 2006). "Perceptual fluency", or "high
fluency", means that the more fluently perceivers can process an object, the more positive their aesthetic
response.
In virtual spaces, planning and deciding over the specific geometry of spaces was complex, as
these spaces are not only a platform for the examinee but an integral subject of examination by itself. In
order to examine aesthetic judgment towards orthogonal versus curved shapes, and simple symmetrical
versus complex unsymmetrical shapes, we chose to build four types of spaces with similar proportions to
be the setup of the experiment such as square symmetrical space (Sq); round-domed space or half a
 sphere, symmetrical (Ro); sharp-edged space, tilted surfaces (walls, ceiling), asymmetrical (Sh) and
curvy-shaped space with rounded smooth surfaces (with no corners), asymmetrical (Cu).

Figure 2. Plan and sections (from left to right, up to down): room no. 1, a square symmetrical space; room no.
2, a round-domed space; room no. 3, a sharp-edged space

Square symmetrical
Round-domed space
space
or half a sphere,
Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana symmetrical
(Squared Colosseum in
Rome, Italy) designed by Naomi Campbell’s Horus-Eye
Guerrini, La Padula, and Eco House by Architect Luis
Romano de Garrido

Curvy-shaped space
with rounded smooth
Sharp-edged space, surfaces,
tilted surfaces, asym- asymmetrical
metrical
Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye
Pavilion 21 MINI Opera Smart City, designed by Zaha
Space by Coop Himmelb(l)au Hadid

The idea was to examine two pairs of spaces: a square shape and a spherical shape were
compared to complex forms that had breaks and curves. They also differ in their symmetry (two
symmetrical forms vs. two unsymmetrical forms). Openness and room proportions are matters of
relevancy (Franz, von der Heyde et al., 2005) and should be dealt with in another separate experiment.
Nevertheless, in order to perform an optimal comparison of impact of geometry over the user, all designs
had to maintain comfortable proportions and a sense of human scale. A space too small might create an
instantaneous feeling of suffocation, while a space too large might create discomfort or disorientation. As
such, all spaces were designed to be approximately the same size. We chose the proportions of a typical
university lecture hall: a floor of 12 × 12 m and a ceiling over the height of 6–8 m, in order to resemble
the dimensions of a university lecture hall that would be familiar to the majority of the participants (see
Figure 2). In order to account for the difference between an inter-personal objective and perceived
distance (Gifford 1983), we entered the reference of a chair. Volumes were designed to be colorless
(monochromatic), soundless, with no objects (except for the chair). The lighting was non-directional and
created equal illumination in all parts of the space.

In conclusion, the architectural product always addresses a user, who will react in a certain way
towards the architectural object, towards built space, towards her/his environment in general. This
relationship is bidirectional, and its effects are visible both ways: we modify the environment through the
designing process (architecture, urban planning, design in general) and the (built) environment modifies
our behavior. In this context, it is crucial that we understand the functioning mechanisms of the
perceptual processes. Perception is indeed a very complex process, that involves gathering information
through our senses; processing it - which implies analyzing the received information and comparing it
against previously gathered knowledge, based on past experiences; and formulating particular responses -
also based on previous experiences. Perception is in essence a highly creative process: although we relate
to the same reality, we will perceive it in a different way according to what that environment means to
each of us.

REFERENCES